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Prime General Daatgal Insurance LLC (PGI)

About the Project
Project Name: 
Providing self-employed people in Ulaanbaatar with health and accident microinsurance products
Type of Facility Project: 
Innovation Grant
País de operaciones: 
Mongolia
Region: 
Asia and the Pacific
Project Thematic Focus: 
Insitutional models and business processes
Product: 
Life
Type of Risk Carrier: 
regulated insurance company
Type of Distribution Channel: 
Bank
Project Description: 

The project aims to widen the availability and scope of health and accident microinsurance products for low-income, self-employed people. The pilot phase will be implemented in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, where about half of the population lives. Although banking and other financial services have become more affordable and accessible for low-income people, appropriate insurance services remain scarce.

PGI will initially conduct market research to understand the underserved markets. Based on the research results, and with the help of external technical advisors, PGI will design demand-driven products and build in-house capacity. PGI will train XacBank's customer officers to effectively market and distribute the microinsurance products. Simultaneously, PGI will conduct an education campaign through public seminars in which XB customers will receive basic financial information, explanations of the products, and brochures. Once the products have been launched, a professional institute will conduct an objective project evaluation.

Beneficiaries: 

PGI will expand its services to the low-income herders and microentrepreneurs who are underserved by mainstream financial institutions throughout the country. The beneficiaries of the project comprise approximately 12,000 urban and rural low-income households, herders and self-employed people largely dispersed throughout the country who suffer from financial difficulty caused by a variety of factors such lack of education or extreme weather conditions. The project will start with clients living in more densely populated areas, and then extend to herders in countryside.

Lessons from the Project
Learning Agenda: 
  • Which partnership model is the most efficient in leveraging financial institutions and retailers operational processes to reach a very scattered population?
  • Which communication medium and format (cell phones, radio or television) is the most effective in educating the target market?
  • What is the optimal premium that can result in the greatest uptake by clients and contribute to early financial viability?
  • What services/products can be bundled to meet the needs of the various low-income market segments (e.g. microenterprises, herders)?
Emerging Lessons: 
  • Though the target population could be divided into three income segments it was decided to not fine-tune the product because the target population was not sufficiently large. 
  • Target population for microinsurance varies by region.
  • Quantitative and qualitative market survey results revealed a preference for a bundled health and accident insurance product. 
  • Based on the market survey and research, the microinsurance team developed a complementary and non-conflict product to national health system.
  • Care should be taken to ensure that the final product design is correctly implemented.
  • Premium levels (and cover) may need to vary by region and an alternative premium collection approach can increase uptake.
  • It is important to use different types of distribution channels to reach a scattered population. 
  • Sufficient effort should go into aligning the objectives of the partners, gaining buy-in from all levels of the partner organization, and formalizing the partnership.
  • Maintaining effective communications with partners can help leverage the positive influence they can have on the project. 
  • Many key functions can be pushed down to distribution channels and key ideas on product design and operation procedures may come from the distribution channels.
  • Sufficient effort should go into gaining buy-in from stakeholders and manage their expectations about the project. 
  • The project should identify capacity building needs of the team members from the outset.
  • The project plan should be based on realistic timelines and should factor the team’s existing responsibilities. 
  • Innovative methods for training staff can be very effective.
  • Staff should be retained for sufficient amount of time for the training to be cascaded.
  • Existing infrastructure need to be reviewed and may have to be improved to handle microinsurance processes.
  • Collecting experience data once the pilot product is rolled out can help fill data gaps. 
  • Different communication methods need to be tried out to educate customers, especially where selling insurance encounters cultural issues. 
  • Closely monitor the experience of various correctly calculated metrics to make troubleshooting possible.
  • Business planning allows the project team to analyze possible outcomes. 
About the Organization
Tipo de vínculo con el Fondo: 
Innovation grantee
Country of Head Office: 
Mongolia
Region : 
Asia and the Pacific
Type of institution : 
Insurance industry
Participation in Microinsurance: 
Risk carrier
Organizational Overview: 

Prime General Daatgal Insurance LLC (PGI), established in 2001, is owned by XacBank, a leading microfinance bank, and Petrovis, a petroleum importer and distributor company in Mongolia. PGI. It is one of the largest insurance companies in the country and has pioneered microinsurance to serve low-income families since 2006, leveraging its commercial insurance expertise and claims system.

More about the Organization
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